I can only hope that 2016 will continue as it started
with a great surprise read.F*ck Love
had everything I had spent the majority of 2015 looking for.I loved the up and down moments of elation
versus sadness, and oh Mylanta…the pain…the burn…the palpitations.I just want to keep feeling these physical
characteristics for just a little while longer because I know how hard it is to
find a book that includes all of these at one time.

When we first meet Helena she is a 23-year-old accounting
major getting ready to graduate.Helena
and Neil have been dating for a year, but you can just tell there isn’t the
passion one would find with somebody you wanted to spend the rest of your life
with.Here comes my first swig of
Mylanta.

“I’m sorry,” he
says.But there’s not a sorry big enough
for a betrayal like this.

Della, Helena’s best friend, has been dating Kit for a
few months and although they seem complete polar opposites of each other they
seem to be in a happy place…a place where Helena wishes she was. Helena experiences a life-altering dream.Her dream includes being with Kit, and Helena is quirky enough where she
believes that if she conforms to her dream then she will have her dream life
and Kit.

To fall in love
with a boy is one thing, but to fall in love with you best friend’s boy because
of a dream is…well, I’m f*cked.

Now I’m starting to drink a little more Mylanta because
things between Della and Kit are progressing.I don’t understand what Kit sees in Della.She’s that friend that we all know…you know
the one that is friends with somebody just to make herself look better…she’s
really not a nice person at all once you get to know her, and I just can’t
fathom why Kit would want to stay with her.Helena and Kit are spending more and more time together just as friends
and it is painfully obvious these two need to be together!

Our relationship
is tearing, twisting.The friendship
part is slowly blurring, and something else is coming into focus.

Time for another swig of Mylanta… Did I mention that
Della and Kit are in a serious relationship?My heart is hurting even as write this.Helena isn’t good at confrontation (probably why Della has her as a
friend) so Helena runs instead of admitting to Kit that she has fallen in love
with him.Oh but she did leave Kit a
cryptic message on a napkin…Don’t marry
Della.

He’s seriously thinking of marrying Della??Pass the Mylanta, please.She’s wrong for him!How can it be more obvious who his soulmate
is.It’s Helena!!!It’s a slow progression of cat and mouse, but
thankfully Kit has a brain on his shoulders and after enough time has passed
makes a very subtle and grand gesture.

“I’ll always find
you.Even when you run.”

Just when they finally put aside any notions that what
they feel towards each other is wrong and it is acceptable to be in love a
punch came to my gut and I had to throw back the Mylanta in a big swig.It hurts…oh man it hurts.

I’m not feeling
quite as numb as I was before.The shock
has worn off and filled with something sharper.I think it’s called realization.

I want to go back to Helena’s dream where it was all
happy and lovey-dovey.I’m with
Helena…this hurts..I’m done with
Mylanta.I’ve moved on to my new coping
mechanism…Fireball whiskey.It burns…one
shot to the heart followed by another.

This story spans 2 years so it is not a quick insta-love
that will go away.It is a deep,
soul-holding love that gets deeper and deeper.They aren’t denying their love, but eventually one will need to choose
which life to lead…the dream or reality.

“It’s not what I
wanted.I wanted you.I can’t run away from this.”

Take my advice – forget the Mylanta.Go straight to the Fireball.There’s still so much to this story to tell
but it’s not fair for you to have it retold.You need to experience it.Did
you like Ms. Fischer’s The Opportunist?If you did you are going to love F#ck Love!The characters are unique and the story is
amazing.My only complaint is I felt the
ending was a little abrupt.A lot of
time was spent developing their connection, but I just needed a little bit more
to wrap up the conclusion.

hapter One

#wtf

“You are supposed to be with me.”

What words are these? They startle me, and at first I think I’ve heard him wrong. He’s leaning across the table while our significant others are twenty feet away, waiting in line for our food.

“You and me,” he says. “Not us and them.”

I blink at him before I realize he’s making a joke. I laugh and go back to looking at my magazine. Actually, it’s not really a magazine. It’s a math journal, because I’m super cool like that.

“Helena…” I don’t look up right away. I’m afraid to. If I look up and see that he’s not joking, everything will change.

“Helena.” He reaches out and touches my hand. I jump, pull back. My chair makes a horrid scraping sound, and Neil looks over. I pretend that I dropped something and reach under the table. Under the table are our shoes and legs. There is a blue crayon lying at my feet; I pick it up and resurface.

Neil is at the front of the line ordering our food, and my best friend’s boyfriend is waiting for my response, his eyes heavy with burden.

“Are you drunk?” I hiss. “What the fuck?”

“No,” he says. Though he doesn’t look so sure. For the first time, I notice the scruff on his face. The skin around his eyes is sallow. He’s going through something, maybe? Life is being bullshit.

“If this is a joke, you’re making me really uncomfortable,” I tell him. “Della is right there. What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I only have ten minutes, Helena.” His eyes move to the blue crayon, which is resting between our hands.

“Ten minutes for what? You’re sweating,” I say. “Did you take something, are you on the crack?” What type of drugs make you sweat like that? Crack? Heroine?

I want Neil and Della to come back. I want everything to go back to normal. I spin around to see where they are.

“Helena…”

“Stop saying my name like that.” My voice shakes. I make to stand up, but he grabs the crayon, then my hand.

“I don’t have much time. Let me show you.”

He’s sitting very still, but his eyes remind me of a cornered animal: frightened, panicked, bright. I’ve never seen that look on his face, but since Della’s only been dating him for a few months, it’s a moot point. I don’t really know this guy. He could be a druggie for all I know. He turns my hand over so it’s palm up, and I let him. I don’t know why, but I do.

He places the crayon in my palm and closes my fist around it.

“You have to say it out loud,” he says. “Show me, Kit.”

“Say it, Helena. Please. I’m afraid of what will happen if you don’t.”

Because he looks so afraid, I say it.

“Show me, Kit.” And then, “Should I know what this is?”

“No one should,” he says. And then everything goes black.

Tarryn Fisher’s Bio

Tarryn Fisher is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of eight novels. Her newest novel, F*ck Love, released on New Year’s Eve, 2015 and she is currently working on the third installment of Never Never. She is the co-founder of Clothed Caption, a fashion blog she runs with her friend, Madison Seidler. Tarryn resides in the Seattle area with her family. She loves rainy days, Coke, and thinks Instagram is the new Facebook. Tarryn is represented by Amy Tannenbaum of the Jane Rotrosen Agency.